A Pirate and a Shifter....What more could you ask for?

“It’s your move,” his opponent announced impassively.
Henry glanced up again at the man. He slouched back in his chair, blue eyes sharp as the steel on his hip, as he watched Henry. His opponent had jet-black hair, slicked back in a leather thong. A nice sized diamond stud pierced his left lobe and a well-trimmed goatee covered his upper lip and chin. His clothes appeared to be of the finest quality, something Henry found strange for a man sitting in this kind of pub.
“How…how much was the bet again?” Henry’s voice shook.
The man smiled, his tan face showing a clean, white teeth. He leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands together. Henry licked his dry lips, staring at the pinky ring on his right hand. His ring was a snake wrapped around his finger to form the band with two rubies for its eyes.
“One hundred dollars,” the man repeated.
Henry looked at his cards. He knew he had a damn good hand with three tens, but what he didn’t have was the hundred dollars. What he did need, however, was the money in that pot. It would pay off the many debts he owed. The money would even get him and his daughter to their new home, which is where they were heading until he lost all of their money and was now trying to gain some of it back.
With a desperate move on his part, Henry pulled out a small cameo of his sixteen-year-old daughter. He dropped it in the pile, gazing at it with deep regret in his heart.
“What’s that?”
“My daughter,” Henry answered in a dull voice. “I will bet my daughter.”
The lips on the stranger twitched. “You ante your child in our poker game?”
Henry heard the disbelief in the man’s voice. “I have no choice here, mister. I need the money real bad.”
He watched as the cameo was picked up and opened. Henry saw the sudden interest in that intense gaze as he examined Henry’s only daughter. The bastard was all but undressing his little girl with his eyes.
“Do we have a deal?” Henry kept his voice tight.
The man closed the locket and placed it back in the ante pile. When he started Henry in the eyes, Henry felt a chill of dread hit him. He regretted what he had done but knew it was to late to undo it. “We have a deal.”
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“Come on,” Dedrick said, his voice lowering to a purr as he moved closer to her ear. “I see it in your eyes every time you look at me. You’re very interested.” She met his eyes in the mirror over the bar. “And curious,” he whispered. “You’re dying inside to know what having sex with me is all about.”

Jaclyn pushed back against him and turned. “Curiosity killed many cats, and I don’t have the lives to spare on you.” She picked up another beer and took a deep drink. “Tell Sid I’ll come by soon. And if she has to send someone to check on me, to please let it not be you.”

Dedrick rubbed his face groaning at the same time. “Okay, what do you want?”

She turned her head, and her blue eyes grabbed his full attention, which made Dedrick feel like he could drown in them. “She must really have something on you if you can’t go home without me.”

“I don’t want her upset,” Dedrick stated. “It’s that simple.”

“Is that the only thing?” Jaclyn cocked her head to one side. As she did, her thick black hair spilled to the side too. It gave Dedrick a mental picture of all that black hair spilling over his chest and then over his legs.

“What do you want?” he said again, after clearing his throat and pushing the image of her sucking on his cock to the back of his mind.

Jaclyn turned back toward him, licked her lips, and gave him a shrug. “Doesn’t really matter now.”

“Oh, don’t chicken out on me now.” He grinned, licked his own lips, and set the bottle down on the bar. “You might have me change my opinion of you.”

She snorted, rolling her eyes and snatching her beer back. “Please. Your opinion of me means jack shit.” She moved closer and stood between his legs, her scent wrapping around him. “You don’t like me. You’ve made that very clear, and now that I know you don’t want a human, it kind of makes my next request pointless.”

“Do you always like to flirt with danger?” His voice was raw and sounded on edge. He raised his hand to wrap some of her long hair into his fist.

“I tend to get bored easily,” she answered quietly.

“Cut the shit, Jaclyn.” He growled low, tugging on her hair. “What do you want?”

She moved closer, hanging her arms over his shoulders, pressing closer to his body. “I want you to kiss me again.” She licked her lips and dropped her gaze to his mouth. “Like a lover would kiss me.”